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Kids around the country are going back to school, which means supplies. Paper, pencils, and fresh green-and-yellow boxes of Crayola crayons will be waiting in many classrooms. This iconic brand has seen kids through school, art classes, and countless coloring books. The crayons remain a staple in classrooms and homes and are instantly recognizable by generations.
When I was little, whether for school or not, I always loved getting a box of crayons. The Crayola 64 box, with the built-in sharpener, was the holy grail of my toy box. The smell of the wax and the fact that the crayons were all pristine, with pointed tops and no broken bits, meant endless possibilities.
THE HISTORY BEHIND THE CRAYOLA BOX
While the Crayola box is one of those instantly recognizable brand images, the company began in New York City as an industrial producer of pigments for barn paint and automobile tires. Cousins Edwin Binney and Harold Smith founded the company in 1885. Branching out from industrial paint and pigments, one of their earliest successful products was the “An-du-Septic” dustless blackboard crayon, a new kind of chalk that teachers loved. Tins that held the chalk are highly collectible. They were a consumable product that no longer exists, so they are very hard to find.
The first crayons created by the company were for marking shipping crates in factories, but they were not safe for children to use. Edwin Binney’s wife, Alice, a former school teacher from London, suggested mixing the oily wax and safer pigments to make crayons that children could use. The company website credits Alice for creating the Crayola name, using “Crai” from the French word for crayon and “ola” from “oleaginous” meaning oily.
The crayons were instantly popular in school rooms and homes with children. Because they were portable and easy to use, they made easy crafts for kids and a way for teachers to bring artwork into their curricula.
THE OG OF CRAYON BOXES
Small boxes of crayons were one thing to have in a school desk or craft drawer, but in 1958, Crayola introduced a box of sixty-four colors, and the crayons weren’t even what made them special. The factory manufactured a box that contained a built-in sharpener, the first of its kind, and an icon was born. If the point of a crayon wore down or got snapped off, a quick turn through the sharpener meant it was as good as new. The company still produces the box; however, for vintage lovers, an original box from 1958 is a rare find.
I will never forget the heartbreak I felt when I accidentally left my box in the back of our 1961 Buick Special station wagon, where it melted into sixty-four shades of goo. No sharpener could fix the mess, so I had to steal my brother’s box. He’s still not over it.
CHANGING NAMES AND SHADES
It’s easy to get lost when diving into the history of color names, retired shades, and new shades. In a 2015 HuffPost article, collector Ed Welter said, “When you’re a collector, you’re in it for the minutia.” Welter realized the Crayola company did not have a complete history and inventory of name changes and color shades. A few changes became well-known, however.
- Flesh: Originally, the company created this color to be the same shade as the palm of a human hand. However, in 1963, with the growing civil rights movement, the company decided to rename the color “Peach.”
- Prussian Blue: After World War I, the kingdom of Prussia no longer existed, and by 1946, when Crayola introduced the color, the reference was dated. The company renamed it “Midnight Blue” in 1958.
- Indian Red: Also in 1958, the company introduced this color. By 1999, they decided it was insensitive towards Native Americans. The color was the same shade as a plant that grew in India; however, they wanted to be very cautious about the appearance of something that could cause a misunderstanding.
Several other colors were “permanently retired” by the company, and Crayola added new colors over the years. Collectors disagree over what makes a color collectible and what constitutes a “rare” color. For instance, the color “flesh” was made for nearly fifty years before the name change. Indian Red existed for ninety-six years before being renamed “chestnut,” so while some consider those colors collectible, others do not.
Collectors who search for crayons usually want vintage or discontinued colors. For example, the company’s Rubens line is a highly sought-after product. They were not simply wax crayons. The pigments were deeper, and they were meant for serious artists. It’s unclear when the company stopped making them, and finding them is difficult today, but true crayon collectors are always looking for them.
CRAYOLA MERCH: WHAT’S REAL, WHAT’S NOT
Like any business, a company will try to branch out and sell merchandise connected to its brand. Over the years, Crayola has been no exception. One of the most recognizable products came from a New York City company called Think Big! Their creation of a “Monumental Crayon” was just one of several products they super-sized as décor. At five feet tall, the original Crayola crayon was an officially licensed product and remains a hot collectible that evokes the big ’80s.
Another Crayola product that collectors love is the coin bank. The company made crayon-shaped banks in bright colors, but one of the most popular banks was a 1912 Ford Crayola delivery truck. It came in a few different styles, and collectors usually want examples of each version. They were initially sold in 1998 and are not terribly hard to find, but they appeal to crayon collectors as well as fans of die-cast cars and trucks.
Who wouldn’t want to wake up to the bright shades of blinking crayons? A partnership between Armitron, a maker of popular character watches and clocks, and Crayola resulted in a clock made to look like a forty-eight-count box of crayons. At the appointed time, the top of the box would pop up, and crayons would flash and beep.
With the 1980s aesthetic of bold colors coming back, the Crayola vibe could be a great retro look for a dorm room or playroom. And, if you just want to chill out, grab a classic box of all those colors and make some art to hang on the fridge. If you want to see how they’re made or just relive a little childhood magic, check out this video from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Brenda Kelley Kim lives in the Boston area. She is the author of Sink or Swim: Tales From the Deep End of Everywhere and writes a weekly syndicated column for The Marblehead Weekly News/Essex Media Group. When not writing or walking her snorty pug Penny, she enjoys yard sales, flea markets, and badminton.
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